AU Dean only has a few more months left in prison when he gets a new cellmate. Castiel claims to be innocent and Dean believes and helps him. A few months later it's Cas' turn to help Dean. Destiel, rated M to be safe

I had this idea for a while and today I had a lot of time to kill so I started writing and this is what happened. I even used a word in here that I learned while studying for the GRE. Never thought that would happen.

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy reading this.

He was watching the new inmates arrive, quickly assessing them and finding out who might be a trouble maker and who would fit in well. New arrivals were always a nice change in his boring every day routine. Making assumptions about their personalities was fun and he was almost always right. He was good at reading people and most of the people who came here were thugs and looked the part, but one of the newbies was different.

That one won't have it easy, he thought as the last of the new inmates passed him. He looked intimidated and just a little too pretty with his dark, tousled hair and stunning blue eyes, which caught Dean's for a moment, before he was pushed further along the corridor.

The bell rang then, telling everyone to go back to their cells. The show was over now anyway, so Dean quickly made his way back to the cell he currently wasn't sharing with anyone. That would probably change today and he wondered who his new cellmate would be.

He didn't have to wait long. The new inmates had apparently been processed quickly this time and soon a guard was leading someone towards Dean's cell and opened the door. Dean looked up to see the man with the intense blue eyes he had noticed earlier standing in the door, taking a tentative step inside the cell, just enough for the guard to close and lock the door behind him.

The man remained standing there by the door, not daring to look at Dean, apparently terrified of him and the entire situation. Dean decided that he had to make the first move here. He didn't mean the man any harm. He was hoping for his parole to be granted any time now and he couldn't afford any trouble.

Usually he didn't have to worry about getting in trouble because his fellow inmates had soon realized that Dean Winchester wasn't a push-over and would fight back if he had to. And usually he won those fights. But he was fair and mostly just wanted to be left alone and the others respected him and let him be. It was easier for all of them.

"Hey, I'm Dean," he said, giving the new guy an encouraging smile.

"Castiel," the guy answered quietly but with a voice much lower and more gravelly than Dean would have expected.

"I sleep up here," Dean told him, pointing to the neatly made top bed, "so yours will be the bottom bunk."

Castiel nodded and finally moved, depositing his pile of sheets and personal belongings, which he'd been clutching to his chest so far, on the mattress. He started to put his personal things away and Dean quickly cleared some space on the few shelves they had available.

"So, what did you do to land in here?" Dean asked, thinking that his new cellmate looked more like an accountant than a criminal.

"Nothing," came the quiet reply.

"Yeah. Never heard that before," Dean sighed, rolling his eyes. "What were you charged with then?"

"Embezzlement. But I was framed by my boss," Castiel told him, looking directly at Dean for the first time since he had entered the cell. And just from the look in his eyes Dean could tell that this man was telling the truth. He didn't deserve to be here and in that moment he decided to protect Castiel from all the evil things that could happen to a good man in prison.

"What about you?" Castiel asked now. "What did you do to end up here?" He was getting bolder now that it seemed clear that Dean wasn't going to beat him up or worse.

"Armed robbery," Dean replied. "I did it for my baby brother. He was sick and we couldn't afford to see a doctor, so I held up a convenience store. The gun wasn't even loaded. I didn't want to risk hurting anyone by accident. Turned myself in as soon as Sammy was better," he elaborated, while at the same time wondering why he felt the need to explain himself.

Outside of court he had never told anyone the whole story, yet somehow he felt that this guy, Castiel, deserved to know the truth. He wanted him to know the truth and understand why he had done it.

Castiel nodded. "I'm sure it was a hard choice to make. The robbery I mean."

Dean gave a curt nod.

"Does he visit you often? Your brother?"

"No," Dean replied, sadness creeping into his voice and eyes. "He was upset that I turned myself in and left him. Said I could have gotten away with it." He missed his brother. But the ungrateful bastard had turned his back on him when Dean had decided to do the right thing.

"What about you?" he asked after a moment. "Is anyone going to be visiting you?" A man like that surely had a sweet wife and at least two adorable kids waiting for him on the outside.

"If she can't, then no one can. She's the best," Castiel answered, the love and admiration for his sister evident in his eyes. "But it's not gonna be easy. My wife had an affair with my boss and helped him frame me. And now she's using my conviction as a reason for a divorce. Not that I'd want to stay married to her after what she did," he added, clearly feeling betrayed.

"I hope your sister finds something," Dean told him sincerely and Castiel gave him a shy smile. The first smile probably since his world had come crashing down around him.

Just when Dean was trying to figure out what to say to change the subject to something happier and cheer up his new cellmate some more, their door was opened again and two guards stood there.

"Novak, time to shower. I'll show you the way," the first said and Castiel grabbed his towel and left with him.

"Winchester, the director wants to see you," the second guard said. "You can shower afterwards."

And Dean, knowing that this was about his parole, had no choice but to follow the guard and hope Castiel would be okay on his own.

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